William Nale has announced his plans to seek re-election as the District 2 city councilman in Russellville.
Nale was born and raised in Russellville and attended Russellville city schools.
He worked for the city of Russellville from 1972 until he retired in 2002. His career included working at the street department, park and recreation department, building and licenses, fire and finally, the police department. Nale retired in 2002 while serving as a lieutenant investigator.
William and his wife, Debbie, have three children and eight grandchildren. Two of their grandchildren attend Russellville city schools.
He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church as well as a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Shoals Lodge #5. He serves as the state trustee for Lodge #5 and also serves on the Ways and Means Committee. He is also a member of Chapter S Cedar Creek (Gold) Wings.
Nale said his vision for the future of Russellville is to improve the city for all residents.
“The citizens of District 2 were kind enough to elect me to represent them and our city in 2008. At that time, I promised to help Russellville move forward,” he said.
“My plan is for us to continue moving forward because there is still work to be done. I want to see improvements in every aspect of our city from north to south and east to west.
“I will focus on seven areas: jobs, economic development, fiscal responsibility, streets, education, parks and recreation and public safety.”
Nale pointed to several accomplishments he has been a part of over the past three and a half years. The police department was able to receive grant money for a Life Scan fingerprint system, like seen on CSI. Once someone has been fingerprinted, it is on file nationally showing a true name and photo I.D.; helped acquire surplus military equipment such as vehicles, trailers, generator and forklift.
The city and fire department have been working to with the EMA on the mitigation fund grant for storm shelters to be built in District 2.
One will be located near Westside and old College Avenue School, while the location of the second is still undecided. Another grant from RC&D secured free weather radios and smoke detectors.
“Station 1 was a shell when we took office. We were able to finish the entire station with what I consider state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and classrooms. Station 2 is now in the process of being remodeled inside the office, as well as the living quarters,” Nale said.
“Communication has also been upgraded to allow us to be able to contact all other departments in the county, helping us insure that the fire department and EMA are a mutual partnership. We are also continuing to work on the ISO rating in order to save our citizens and businesses money on insurance costs. I am working toward trying to obtain another fire station near Duncan Creek Road and Clay Avenue to help get ISO ratings even lower. The study for this station has already been completed.
Nale also lists several other services and improvements: the street department now has two knuckleboom trucks; the park and recreation center continues to operate at full capacity offering a variety of sports for youths, as well as summer activities.
“We are also working toward constructing a skateboard park near the Ralph Bishop Center,” Nale said.
Engineers have also been contacted about building a retaining pond near City Lake Park to help with flooding from City Lake to South Jackson and South Caroll.
“I will also continue to support our school systems in order to see that our children get the best education possible to help them be able to compete in the global market of the 21st century,” Nale said.
“We have moved forward, but, we also still have a lot of work to be done.”